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Aberdeenshire, Scotland Sco

Can anyone ID these dead shrubs? They succumbed to the NE winter! I'm going to pull them out but I'd like suggestions what to replace them in. There are 21 dead shrubs (so I'd probably need suggestions to where to buyt them online as I imagine a GC would cost £££s).
As you can see in the 3rd photo, they're at the back of the barked area between the two trees. They're planted alongside lavendars, escallonias, hebes and roses so something different to these would be nice. Nothing too big, but I don't mind them covering the area - means less bark to buy each spring!!
Cheers in advance....



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Answers

 

I think the second picture down could be rosemary.

20 Mar, 2011

 

Agree - and its not dead, just damaged from the winter.

20 Mar, 2011

 

It never occured to me that it could be rosemary!
But Bamboo, it shoots are just dry and brittle, will they come back? That single green shoot was the only bit left out of the 21 plants..... and there's me gone and pulled some of them out already - well the ones that had buttercups growing through them .... oops!

20 Mar, 2011

 

Trim off the dead bits and you will at least have one Rosemary bush! Don't be too hasty to dig them up as some shrubs will die down to the ground after a hard winter but then re-grow. However, it seems that you already have removed some, so time to think what sort of new ones to put in. Or how about some annuals for a change while you think about it? Or herbaceous perennials thar die down anyway and avoid the cold weather.

20 Mar, 2011

 

I note you appear to have block planting there - lavenders and other plants, but I can't tell what the others are - how many rosemary did you have originally? Given the design, it's probably best to select the same number of a different shrub to replace them, or buy more rosemary and hope we don't have an arctic blast this year too.... But it's hard to make a recommendation as to what the replacement should be without knowing what the rest of the planting is - what are the two trees present, for one thing?

21 Mar, 2011

 

Bamboo....(the last pic was take last summer so that's why everything looks a bit healthier!) Nearest the drive is (approx numbers) 20 lavendars, at the front is 20 pink roses, on the opposite corner are about 18 hebes - they seem to be minature ones are the tips are turning dark purple at the moment and at the side opposite the drive the larger shrubs are about 18 escallonia rubras (pink/red flowers). I can't be more specific about there varieties than that as it was the landscapers that planted it up.
The two trees (now also removed as they suffered coral spot) were Rowans I think - but they never even budded. I was considering replacing them with more rowans or possibly Prunus Amanogowa (or however you spell it!) I think they're quite pretty.
As I said the ground is really quite heavy clay. Initially I wondered about some minature Rhodis but they like acid soil, perhaps Euonymus or (the cheaper option) heathers, but I imagine they prefer acid soil too. I don't want anything too tall, maybe 2-3ft max. Not sure about more Rosemarys after the state the current ones are in .... as you can see from the 1st picture, all the ones you can see have pretty much had it!
I would like to block plant again. Not really a cheap option though if you consider most decent size plants would be £5-£9 each in the garden centres, hence why I was asking if anyone knew of somewhere online that does 'bulk buys' :)
Really appreciate any suggestions!

21 Mar, 2011

 

What's concerning me is that rosemary is not a small plant - they eventually get 5 feet by 5 feet, so if you had, say, 4 of those, that's quite a bit of room they would have taken up. I can't work out where they are on the planting scheme pic from a distance, but if you're sure you only want 2-3 feet max, evergreens of that size suitable for that situation are few and far between, but Photinia 'Little Red Robin' would fit the bill very well, gets 3 x 3 feet, evergreen. Just make sure you don't buy P. 'Red Robin' by mistake, because that's at least twice the size. If you don't mind deciduous, consider Potentilla fruticosa 'Elizabeth' 3 feet, yellow flowers, or P. 'Abbotswood' 2.5 feet, white flowers, or Spiraea 'Goldflame', gets about 3.5 feet tall, or its smaller relative Spiraea 'Goldmound' about 1.5-2 feet. Another evergreen worth considering is Nandina domestica 'Firepower' - gets 3/4 feet, evergreen, leaves change colour throughout the year.
As for the Prunus you mentioned, I've grown it in a small garden, ideal because it doesn't take up much room, only gets 6 feet wide when its mature, but is only in flower for 2 weeks of the year and the flowers are very pale pink. I used to grow a clematis up it in summer for added interest, but I don't think that idea would suit the layout you've got there. Check out Amelanchier 'Ballerina' or A. lamarckii, depending how big you want it to get - they do, though, have multi stems rather than a single trunk.

21 Mar, 2011

 

That's given me lots to 'Google' Bamboo, thanks!!

21 Mar, 2011

 

Yea, sorry, seem to have written a book there, Donna, lol!

21 Mar, 2011

 

Those Amelanchiers are beautiful but they look quite big, going by the images on Google. I liked the prunus because it was columnar ... we don't want to block our view from our house altogether :) Maybe I should stick to the Rowan idea. I like betula jacquemontii but I think they might be quite tall :(
We've also got all the services under that barked area, so I need to be careful about the roots/drains ... my Kilmarnock willow idea was a bad one!

22 Mar, 2011

 

One thing to take into account if you use the Prunus is that their roots are very close to the surface and they dislike root disturbance, making it difficult to dig around for weeding, etc., beneath and around them.

22 Mar, 2011

 

I didn't know that. But eventually the planting should cover most of the barked area ... plus the bark should keep the weeds down. So far weeds haven't been too much of a problem. I'll bear that in mind though....

22 Mar, 2011

 

I wasn't trying to put you off the Prunus, by the way - I like the flagpole cherry, but it is a bit boring when not in flower, it has to be said...

22 Mar, 2011

 

Bamboo - do you think some heathers would be happy there? The garden centre near us had a nice mixture of winter and summer flowering ones and I thought as the area is barked they'd be quite happy with that as a mulch.....

4 Apr, 2011

 

Only if the soil is acidic - most heathers won't tolerate alkalinity of the soil.

4 Apr, 2011

How do I say thanks?

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